List of Pome Fruits

If you're not a botanist or gardener, the word pome may seem unfamiliar. This category contains everyday fruit like apples and pears as well as some more unusual species. Pomes are fleshy fruits without a central stone; instead, a number of seeds sit in a separate chamber at the center of the fruit. Pomes are members of the Rosaceae or rose family, but not all fruit from this family are pomes: Fruit such as the apricot, peach and cherry are drupes or stony fruit. Pomes may grow on either deciduous or evergreen fruit trees.

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Apples

The most famous pome fruit, the apple is hugely versatile, playing a major role not only in cooking but in human culture. More than 7,000 varieties of apple are grown worldwide. Apples were important to cultures all across Europe and the Middle East. They appear in myths including:

The Greek myth of the golden apples of the Hesperides; stealing this immortality-granting fruit was one of the labors of Hercules.

Another Greek myth, the story of the judgment of Paris, in which a golden apple causes war amongst the gods and, eventually, humans.

Norse mythology, in which the goddess Idunn granted immortality with the aid of apples.

The Biblical story of Adam and Eve.

Tip

Apples are delicious baked, but the most common way to eat them is simply raw, either whole or sliced. Apples also form the basis for drinks like cider and Calvados. In the U.S., "cider" can mean fresh-pressed juice, but elsewhere it refers to an alcoholic drink. Early recipes for apple pie date to the 14th century.

Medlars

Looking a little like a very large rose hip -- to which it is distantly related -- the medlar has flesh that is unpleasantly tart when first picked. After storage and bletting -- a process in which the firm flesh breaks down into a sticky mush -- the taste mellows and the fruit can be used to make jelly, wine and even a paste known as "cheese." This paste was used in the Victorian era to make tiny decorative cakes in the shape of animals or seasonal ornaments.